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I love this Mac Book, there really isn't anything bad to say about it!

Until this year I had never worked with an operating system other than Microsoft, like most people. Although by no means was I new to the system having used every version of the system from 95 onwards.

I only use this laptop for work, so I will state immediately that I have no experience with gaming on this system so I can't comment on the availability of games etc on OSX, however, from what I gather it is significantly less than the availability for Windows systems.

That said, this is amazing. My favourite thing about the MacBook Pro is that it doesn't make a sound whilst switched on - that is to say it is literally silent. Despite the lack of sound it is extremely powerful, with an amazingly fast processor and great RAM (4GB). Therefore there are very few programs that could make this product struggle.

The screen is excellent, with great definition and picture quality - and it is easy to view whilst outdoors too! Which is a spot where most other laptops seem to fall down. Once again despite the obviously stronger lighting used for the screen the battery does last a good six or so hours before requiring a recharge, which is great for a laptop of this size and power.

As for setting this little thing up there are no problems at all. You simply open the screen, press the power button (it loads within seconds, much faster than Windows counterparts) and then follow the on screen instructions, you will be working within minutes. It can connect to wireless networks with very little user input and all apple appliances can be attached. One of my favourite little features is the inclusion of blue tooth connectivity, which is something that appears to be commonplace amongst apple Macs as they use it for connecting their wireless peripherals, personally I have a bluetooth mult-touch mouse which is great for using when clicking for longer periods of time.

Now, the major decision maker for most people is the fact that this isn't a Windows operating system using product. But that won't be a problem, I promise you, it is so simple to readjust yourself to using Mac OSX as despite looking a lot different, it is very simple to Windows with drag a drop, double clicking etc all working on the same principals. There are, of course, some differences but these are tiny and you will figure them out with very little practise.

It may be useful for me to also mention the possibility of installing Microsoft products on the system for those of you who aren't too keen on change. At the moment Microsoft do offer their Office products for Mac, as well as their live messenger service. So there's no need to worry about being able to continue using these if you so wish.

Most other major software producers also create Macintosh versions of their products for use with computers such as this one and therefore file incompatibility and problems of the like are easy to avoid.

An important note to point out is that this computer, as it runs Mac OSX, doesn't tend to need an antivirus program. This is due to the lack of viruses for mac products due to their tiny popularity compared to Microsoft systems, however this could well change in the future and therefore extra cost may be on the cards some point in the future - and that's not exactly music to one's hears after paying out the high price tag for this item. Although over all I would advise you get your hands on this laptop as it's considerably more 'poshy' feeling, and a lot more powerful, than most other laptops - and it's still a portable laptop (that's the most amazing part of the Macbook pro)

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Worth the extra expense, but be careful with it!

I've been using Macs since university and I would never go back to a PC! This macbook pro is easy to use, reliable, and beautiful.

The operating system is very user friendly, its simple to find your way about the computer and the spotlight search engine will track down anything you can't find yourself. The finder application for navigating your way around the contents of the computer is very useful and easy to use and in my opinion a massive improvement on the windows system. One thing I love about it is that you can customise how you choose to view the contents of your computer depending on what seems easiest for you, thumbnails, a list, a filmstrip. Personally I like the columns approach!

One of my favourite things is the 'system preferences' application where all your settings are laid out simply in one place so its very easy to make changes and fix things that might be bothering you. Everything from printers, to networks, to user accounts, the options to adjust them are here are and are clear. Hey that rhymes!

The trackpad is very helpful, the variety of functions is much more comfortable than the old fashioned click and drag system and is less painful on the hand muscles after a long session on the computer. No repetitive strain injury here! You can scroll down or across by swiping with two fingers, you can click with a soft tap anywhere on the pad and you can zoom in and out by moving two fingers together or apart. You can also set up you trackpad so that the bottom corners function as a traditional left and right click, you'd do this in the system preferences application I mentioned earlier.

I particularly like the illuminating keyboard, it senses when there isn't enough ambient light to type by and backlights with a soft glow that isn't at all offputting and is very useful. You can also adjust the brightness of the screen easily on the go by using the F1 and F2 keys, which is handy because you don't have to stop what you're doing to make the changes to keep your screen comfortable for your eyes in changing light.

The hard drive is huge, plenty of room to store everything you may need, more than adequate memory even for video editing and the quality of the screen is excellent, although I recommend getting the anti-glare version for a little bit extra (I think its around £40 more) as the standard screen will reflect any light which I would find annoying.

The battery life of the MacBook Pro is great, I get about 6 hours of continuous use from the battery before needing to recharge and there are power saving options that you can adjust according to your needs which can make this longer or shorter. The power adapter and cable itself is a great feature. The power cable has a 'magsafe' feature which means it automatically pops out of your laptop if it is tripped over or pulled, so only the power cable comes crashing to the floor not the whole laptop!

As far as value, I think this spec of Macbook currently costs about £1300 and the question is, is it worth it? Well, it depends how frugal you want to be I suppose! If you're happy with the way a PC laptop operates and just use it for e-mail, Microsoft Office and web browsing I guess you don't strictly need a MacBook Pro. But for people who want to edit video, sound or photos or don't mind spending a bit extra to have something special than I say go for it.

Oh, I almost forgot, Macs don't get viruses so you won't need to worry about paying for security software or live in fear or clicking a dodgy link.

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Top quality computer that basically does everything for you.

Over 3 years ago I converted to Apple and used a Mac Mini up until recently, I was so impressed with what it could do, I saved a lot of money and upgraded to the Apple MacBook Pro MB986B/A. This computer is a monster product, with it's powerful 2.80 GHZ Intel Core 2 Duo Processor and the new Mac OS X V10.6 Snow Leopard along with the 4GB of memory I was jumping up and down with joy, and love my computer so much. The design is so sleek, elegant and with the aluminium enclosure you know that your going to get durability and style. I don't want to go on about specs, but here is just a few that sold me this computer. It has 2 NVIDIA graphics processors, I find these fantastic for when I am using Adobe Creative Suite and Photo Shop. The 1440 x 900 pixels give me fantastic images and vibrant colour for when I am playing the odd game when I am not working. Along with Wireless networking, bluetooth, SD memory card slot and a built in iSight camera and microphone, this computer is just amazing,

All in all a top high quality computer, but the beauty of the Mac is how secure the operating system is, and you don't have to hardly worry about viruses and malware, as the computer just does it all for you. Everything works seamlessly, and I have not en-counted any problems what so ever with this product. I tend to use this computer for my music production on Pro logic and even when I have got 5 to 6 windows or applications running nothing seems to slow down. The Apple MacBook Pro MB986B/A is quality, and well worth every single penny. A little expensive but you get what you pay for.

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Expensive, but worth it

Having worked in IT for a few years now, always on windows PCs, and being frustrated close to tears on countless occasions with the instability and other issues of Windows operating systems, I gladly made the jump to Mac a few months ago. And I'm never going back. There's no doubt about it: Nothing beats a mac when it comes to multimedia. My real reason for getting the Macbook Pro was that I needed a powerful machine for making music at home.

My experience wasn't totally positive. The item shipped with some faulty RAM which meant a lot of time reloading when it crashed. Very frustrating. But the warranty service was brilliant and the RAM was replaced quickly and obviously at no cost. Since then it's been running beautifully. The Leopard 10 operating system is super stable compared to Windows and it didn't take me long to figure out my way around. I've never experienced out of the box functionality like I did here, turn it on and it's ready to go. It's also great not having to worry about viruses anymore. The bundled software is amazing - I actually recorded a whole song in Garageband using just the onboard mic. Was blown away by the quality!

Other great features include: most comfortable touchpad in the world ever, crystal clear screen(that adjusts brightness when you take a closer look), very quiet while it runs, good on-board sound, and the battery life is excellent(up to 6 hours depending on what you're doing)

So even though my experience wasn't flawless, I'd still recommend this Macbook any day. Macs are expensive, it's true. But they're worth it. Every person that tells me they're considering a macbook pro, my advice to them is, "Just do it."

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Advantage Apple for me!

As a long-term user of Windows, from its earliest days until XP, I thought it time for a change. I had already tried Linux (Ubuntu) but found it user-unfriendly for an average person like myself. I decided to give Apple a try and at the same time move from a desktop PC to a laptop.Although the Macbook Pro 17 was tempting, I decided on the 15 inch version for its portability. It was not a cheap option and initially I wondered whether I should have merely upgraded my PC to Windows 7.The software was already loaded on the machine when it arrived and it only needed to be switched on and registration details added for it to be fully operational. Additional hardware like printers and mice were recognised immediately and operate without the need to load separate drivers. My wireless Broadband connection was recognised and setup without any input from me except to provide my password. There is a mass of Linux-based open source software on the internet that can be downloaded free.The download procedure is slightly different from Windows but easily learned, the downloaded file is 'dragged and dropped' onto the hard-drive and the original file is then placed in the wastebin. Otherwise, any user of Windows should have no difficulty in adapting to the Mac.I have added a bluetooth mouse as I found the touchpad too tiresome for lengthy use although it is ideal when on-the-road.The computer is completely silent in operation and the battery lasts for 5 hours or more before a recharge is necessary. It is a very well made and compact piece of kit. The screen has a glossy finish that provides a very good display and is easy to orient to avoid outside reflections.Boot up time from cold is in seconds rather than minutes and internet surfing appears to be much quicker than my PC with both using Firefox.The icons for commonly used applications are displayed in the 'Dock' (taskbar) which is located at the bottom of the screen but can easily be moved to the top or either side.I do not regret making the move from Windows to Apple, even though much cheaper laptops are available running MS operating systems. It is possible to save on software, by using free open-source programs.Anti-virus software is also considered to be unnecessary at present although this may change.